Amazon to Replace Broken Kindles After Lawsuit

Amazon Kindle DX Leather Cover

The Kindle is an expensive gadget, so many owners take precautions to protect it. One popular Kindle accessory is Amazon’s own leather cover, which adds a layer of insulation to prevent everyday mishaps. The only problem is that the hinges on the cover have apparently cracked the cases on a number of Kindle 2′s and Kindle DX‘s, with the damage sometimes even resulting in a frozen display.

After a $5 million lawsuit filed against the company, Amazon agreed to replace Kindles that have been damaged by the cover. This is a reversal of Amazon’s previous practice of charging $200 for the replacement. Even though Amazon’s now trying to address the issue, the lawsuit has yet to be withdrawn. The company, however, refuses to comment on the suit itself since it’s against their policy to discuss ongoing litigation.

So far I don’t see any traces of damage on either of my Kindles but this piece of news has got me strongly considering investing in another kind of Kindle cover. On the other hand should 3rd party cover crack my Kindle, Amazon would be reluctant to exchange it for free. I’m curious, has anyone run into these problems with the Amazon case?

16 comments to Amazon to Replace Broken Kindles After Lawsuit

Seems like many of the third party cover use the same metal hook approach used in Amazon’s cover. Seems the questions are:
(1) will Amazon come out with a re-designed cover?
(2) what 3rd party covers are available that do not use the problematic metal hook approach?

I have seen pictures of the damage on one user’s K2 but have not experienced damage on mine. I have had my K2 in the Amazon case since February. I do, however, baby my K2, always closing the cover when moving from spot to spot, etc. Most of the damage that I have read about is from allowing the K2 to “flap” away from the back cover.

I wonder if it might have something to do with people trying to open the cover on the wrong (ie, back) side. I sometimes try to do so and you can get it substantially open before noticing that you’ve got your device flipped upside-down. (Eventually, of course, you learn to look for the silver “Amazon” badge on the front.) Because the plastic doo-dads that hold the Kindle in place don’t actually hinge, you can apply substantial torque to them without meaning to. I was concerned about snapping them off and ruining my cover – maybe I should be more worried about the device itself. The design of the cover is pretty slick, but I too am keeping my eyes open for 3rd-party covers for when this one wears out.

My cover is a leather 3rd party. It has the metal hooks on the spine, but it also is securely held down on the right hand/outside corners by little elastic and leather loops. Easy enough to get out if needed, but there is NO flapping.

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We are working with the authorized rights holder to make this title available in our store very soon. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Customer Service Department
Amazon.com

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My recently purchased Kindle DX no longer works. Tech support says that the screen has been fractured from suffering pressure.
For $200.00 Amazon will replace it. I have kept it in the Amazon cover since purchase and have never dropped it or put pressure on the screen. It worked and then the battery died and after I charged it, it no longer works.

I am on vacation in Canada and downloaded many books to read and now can not access them.

I feel like I have been ripped off completely by Amazon.

It appears as if Amazon was replacing them at first but there are so many problems that they have stopped.

Based on my experience I would not recommend the Kindle or Amazon to anyone.

I had the same bad experience. I did not do anything improper to my K2, but screen cracked for no apparent reason. I was careful with K2, but Amazon refused to cover it under waranty and wanted to charge me $199 for repairing it. After consulting with a consumer protection lawyer, I called them and asked them to show independent evidence that they can definitely link the damaged image I sent in to the conclusion of “improper use”. Not only I was not given any information, but also I was told by a consumer service representative that their developer said that as long as there is no weight on it, the screen would not have cracked. How would have any reasonble person interpreted “ordinary” use as not having any weight on it??? From time to time, I put a protective cover on it, and other times, I had some light papers on it. Surely these were not improper use?

So far Amazon has had the final word by not replacing the broken K2 for me. I am writing to their corporate headquarter to dispute it. Not only there is no study as a basis for their conclusion of improper use, but also there is no information on any channels of resolution for contractural disputes. This sounds very wrong to me from a consumer protection rights angle. Even for those with no problem with Kindle yet, my and Caroline’s experience is an indication that their luck may as well run out sometime down the road.

I had the experience with my first K2. A crack appeared after 1 month near each bracket. When I called Amazon they assured me that it was probably already cracked when I received it, but it didn’t become apparent at first. They replaced it in less than 24 hours and archived my books.

Since I didn’t know that the cover was faulty, I placed the new one in it. I now have a second K2 that has hairline cracks in it. I haven’t approached Amazon. I quickly removed it from the cover and am hoping that the damage will not effect the operation of the Kindle. I really love the ability to have my library with me at all times and to buy a book on the road if I want.

I now use the cover only as a screen protector. I use elastic bands to make sure it doesn’t slip out.

I experienced cracks on my K2 in the area over where the medal hooks from the cover are inserted after one month of use, and it had never “flapped away” from the back cover since I always had the corners attached by the bands provided for that purpose. Since I’d purchased the cover at the same time I bought the K2 from Amazon, I didn’t think about the fact that it was a 3rd party product until my call to check on whether it was covered by the warranty. I was very pleased that my K2 was immediately replaced with overnight shipping. So I was going to purchase a cover that was not “3rd party”, but after reviewing the other comments, it sounds like using elastic bands around the cover to make sure it doesn’t slip out is probably the way to go.

My first Kindle cracked using their own cover and not from want of care in use Amazon replaced this immediately the second one arrived with a fine crack in the case adjacent to the hinge mount,straight out the box Amazon are replacing this.
Are they sending out reconditioned units or new ones?